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It's interesting that a lot of people, including here on HN, find this new Atlas (does he/it have a name?) a bit unnerving or creepy. Historically what people

It's interesting that a lot of people, including here on HN, find this new Atlas (does he/it have a name?) a bit unnerving or creepy. Historically what people have found creepy about robots is when they become too human-like, especially facially - the "uncanny valley" where the face is so close to human that the slight differences give the feeling that something is wrong - like a dead body brought to life, perhaps. What's unexpected about people feeling creeped out by this new son-of-Atlas is that it seems to be because of how un-human it is (opposite of uncanny valley!) in it's ability to rotate its head and torso and perform these double-jointed types of maneuver. Maybe in a factory setting this doesn't matter, but it's relevant in terms of robots used in other settings like hospitals. Japan seem to have the right idea in terms of making robots slightly smaller than humans and with friendly faces so that they seem non-intimidating.

inglor_cz 3y ago
The faceless head is somewhat monstrous as well. I can almost see the ring going red just before the thing decides to slaughter the entire room.
- RGamma 3y ago
  Don't worry, you'll barely see the actual slaughterbots coming: https://youtube.com/watch?v=O-2tpwW0kmU&pp=ygUNc2xhdWdodGVyYm90cw%3D%3D https://youtube.com/watch?v=O-2tpwW0kmU&pp=ygUNc2xhdWdodGVyY...
SuchAnonMuchWow 3y ago
I think it's still the same "uncanny valley" phenomenon: because the body looks more like a human, we are more creeped when we discover how it moves its joints because we were expecting something more human. We wouldn't be creeped by a car/robot moving its wheels in weird directions, but we are with a humanoid robot moving its legs that way.
- me_me_me 3y ago
  It looks like its possessed. Something straight out of Exorcist.
  - HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
    The head at least needs to be changed and made to look more friendly, or at least not like an emotionless alien eyeing you up for paperclip conversion. It's a bit odd to follow the human form factor (I get the logic - for a human-designed world), but then not at least also give it a human-looking head, or maybe better a dumb/cute looking head.
    - bryanlarsen 3y ago
      Wouldn't a more friendly looking face push us further into the uncanny valley and make it more creepy, not less?
      - HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
        I wouldn't have thought so, but it's hard to predict how people are going to viscerally react! I wouldn't have anticipated people finding the rotation/double-jointedness creepy, but it does seem to be a fairly widespread reaction.
- rst 3y ago
  In particular, the sections of the demo video where it does something anatomically impossible for humans -- rotating legs in the hip joints, rotating its torso to switch front and back -- are absolutely uncanny valley stuff.
krapp 3y ago
It's still firmly within the uncanny valley. That effect doesn't only apply to facial features - in this case it applies to the humanoid shape of the robot, which carries its own set of instinct-driven expectations. For example, some people think owls are creepy because of how far around they can turn their heads, even though they aren't even humanoid. But you see the same effect in horror movies, spinning heads or bodies that move in unexpected ways.
api 3y ago
It's exactly the uncanny valley effect of being human-like. Consider sci-fi utility robots like this, which most people don't find "creepy" (maybe intimidating, but that's different): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkOlvXTvLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkOlvXTvLI Meanwhile humanoids are the stuff of actual horror movies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c7XccFwJrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c7XccFwJrQ I'd predict that a crab-like or dog-like robot would be better accepted for home robotics for this reason. We will not want them to look like us. The same is true for aliens. A giant bug, octopus, or quadruped is far less scary than something vaguely humanoid. Sci-fi horror aliens like the xenomorph or the "greys" hit the uncanny valley in various ways.
2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
It's creepy because it looks human enough but doesn't move like a human. We pick up on the head, torso, arms, and legs and subconsciously expect it to move as a human would but it does not- or at least in the teaser it didn't. Since it did something you didn't expect it could be dangerous so you should be careful.
hwbunny 3y ago
I found the dog prototypes disturbing and frightening because they moved in ways that no human has ever experienced in real life. They were similar to what the early Stable Diffusion models produced, the mangled limbs and fingers. Well, scary has its uses, like on the battlefield. This robot looks good. It moves like a robot, it doesn't try to be human, and that's good.

inglor_cz 3y ago

The faceless head is somewhat monstrous as well. I can almost see the ring going red just before the thing decides to slaughter the entire room.

RGamma 3y ago
Don't worry, you'll barely see the actual slaughterbots coming: https://youtube.com/watch?v=O-2tpwW0kmU&pp=ygUNc2xhdWdodGVyYm90cw%3D%3D https://youtube.com/watch?v=O-2tpwW0kmU&pp=ygUNc2xhdWdodGVyY...

SuchAnonMuchWow 3y ago

I think it's still the same "uncanny valley" phenomenon: because the body looks more like a human, we are more creeped when we discover how it moves its joints because we were expecting something more human. We wouldn't be creeped by a car/robot moving its wheels in weird directions, but we are with a humanoid robot moving its legs that way.

me_me_me 3y ago
It looks like its possessed. Something straight out of Exorcist.
- HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
  The head at least needs to be changed and made to look more friendly, or at least not like an emotionless alien eyeing you up for paperclip conversion. It's a bit odd to follow the human form factor (I get the logic - for a human-designed world), but then not at least also give it a human-looking head, or maybe better a dumb/cute looking head.
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    Wouldn't a more friendly looking face push us further into the uncanny valley and make it more creepy, not less?
    - HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago
      I wouldn't have thought so, but it's hard to predict how people are going to viscerally react! I wouldn't have anticipated people finding the rotation/double-jointedness creepy, but it does seem to be a fairly widespread reaction.
rst 3y ago
In particular, the sections of the demo video where it does something anatomically impossible for humans -- rotating legs in the hip joints, rotating its torso to switch front and back -- are absolutely uncanny valley stuff.

krapp 3y ago

It's still firmly within the uncanny valley. That effect doesn't only apply to facial features - in this case it applies to the humanoid shape of the robot, which carries its own set of instinct-driven expectations. For example, some people think owls are creepy because of how far around they can turn their heads, even though they aren't even humanoid. But you see the same effect in horror movies, spinning heads or bodies that move in unexpected ways.

api 3y ago

It's exactly the uncanny valley effect of being human-like. Consider sci-fi utility robots like this, which most people don't find "creepy" (maybe intimidating, but that's different): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkOlvXTvLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkOlvXTvLI Meanwhile humanoids are the stuff of actual horror movies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c7XccFwJrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c7XccFwJrQ I'd predict that a crab-like or dog-like robot would be better accepted for home robotics for this reason. We will not want them to look like us. The same is true for aliens. A giant bug, octopus, or quadruped is far less scary than something vaguely humanoid. Sci-fi horror aliens like the xenomorph or the "greys" hit the uncanny valley in various ways.

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago

It's creepy because it looks human enough but doesn't move like a human. We pick up on the head, torso, arms, and legs and subconsciously expect it to move as a human would but it does not- or at least in the teaser it didn't. Since it did something you didn't expect it could be dangerous so you should be careful.

hwbunny 3y ago

I found the dog prototypes disturbing and frightening because they moved in ways that no human has ever experienced in real life. They were similar to what the early Stable Diffusion models produced, the mangled limbs and fingers. Well, scary has its uses, like on the battlefield. This robot looks good. It moves like a robot, it doesn't try to be human, and that's good.